Don’t think I’ve ever commented on any of your videos, but just wanted to say I’ve watched hours and hours of your channel! Keep up the great work, and thanks!
In America, around NYC anyway, we had these brands (in order of ubiquity) MCI, Studer, Otari, Ampex, Scully and 3M. When I started working in studios "having a 1/2" machine" was a big deal! One time I was working at Ocean Way, in Los Angeles. On a Sunday, Allen Sides (owner of Ocean Way), myself and about 10 other audio engineers did an "A/B comparison" of the Sony 3348 and Studer D827 DASH machines. Allen used some stereo mixes that he'd done personally. At this time, mid-90's, each room at Ocean Way had one or two Ampex ATR 124/116 analog multitrack recorders. These machines were the pinnacle of Ampex's analog recording technology! These machines weighed upwards of 900 lbs! And they cost $125,000 each in 1980's money. They were HUGE; I felt like a kid in front of these beasts. So, there were many Ampex 102's around for mix down. I just assumed that Allen's mixes (we're talking reel to reel here) would be 1/2". But actually, no. Allen mixed everything on 1/4" at 30ips, no noise reduction! He just preferred THAT sound. In fact, since the whole "half-inch/two-track" thing came about in the early 80's, a great many classic albums were actually mixed 1/4." True story.
There were some Stephens machines here and there. Leon Russell had a pair of two inch 40 tracks, the Grateful Dead had a 24 track, I have that machine now. I have never seen a 1/4 inch Stephens, only a 4 track 1/2 inch with a set of 2 track heads for mastering, I don’t know if John ever made a set of quarter inch guides for the machine. One unique feature is that you could record and play at 60ips if you wanted to. The high end sounded pretty incredible, but a roll of tape would be done in eight minutes.
The bias current actually is an ultrasonic high frequency added to the audio signal in recording heads. It allows to overcome the magnetic hysteresis of tape oxide. Oversimplifying, there’s a sort of “dead zone” in the magnetization curve of the tape. There’s a certain range of magnetic field intensity which gets linearly transferred to tape but there’s also an idle zone below a minimum threshold value. The bias current, without getting into too much details, is a practical way to fix that dead zone of magnetization. Otherwise you would get a distorted sound, because part of the waveform wouldn’t be transferred to the tape oxide. It’s a bit like in power amplifiers in AB class, where the transistors are continuosly polarized with a low electric tension otherwise low part of signals waveform wouldn’t be amplified and creating the so called “crossover distortion”. Which, by the way, many guitarist appreciate for its peculiar sound…
Yep, we use to call it "self erasure" you would take an oscilloscope and send a sine wave through the machine and set the bias based on 2 criteria the amplitude and the sine wave formation. The ATR 102 was pretty stable compared to other mix down decks like Otari MX5050 or my favorite the MCI JH-110 which was our main 2-track machine for years. You basically tried to get the input and the output on the sine wave both in amplitude and form to match up then listen to a pink noise before and after to check for EQ curves. The Studer 827 was the only machine I have ever seen that didn't require you to do this daily since it had a digital recall system you set up for each speed and playback curve its crazy that Studer never made a 2 track mix down deck with the same recall features.
@@ryancrawford9894 Class AB has both tubes/valves conducting at the crossover; that's why it is called AB. The analogy with the hysteresis in magnetic tape is useful in that it compares the non linearity of the tube at cut off. AB amps are biased (even guitar amps) to have a quiescent current so both valves are conducting.
How do you use it? Lo-fi or hi-fi because it can do both. I've used it for years, but as I'm getting better and more particular when mastering, I find it hard to find a neutral setting that just lifts the music without taking it drastically in one way or the other? Not much middle ground, or the middle ground is just light saturation.
@@RJ1J I feel you, I have had this plugin for years and can never get it to give the master a little pop.. it takes away my transients and just makes things softer, even harder to gain match it.. it annoys me
Studer A80 has distortion and pre ringing in the left channel with bass heavy mixes (like hip hop). IK said that this distortion was intentional, it was based on the Studer 80 that they used for the plugin. So basically they modelled a broken device LOL Other than that, the IK Tapes are the absolute best, but CPU usage is insane.
@@django3108 thanks for the info. I'll take a close listen to that. I found out that the IK tapes don't work in a mixing situation with multple tracks that are very time sensitive (like 2 kicks or kick and bass etc.) because the IK tapes introduce latency INSIDE the plugin. This is different to normal latency plugins introduce which will be compensated by the DAW. The latency these IK tapes introduce are probably because the tape itself HAS avery short latency in real life (tape head, play head etc.) which they probably have modelled as well. This makes those tapes only suitable for mixbus/mastering purposes for me. Would you buy the Ampex tape if you already had the IK Studer A80 and MCI?
Very cool. I watched MWTM with John Davis mastering some songs. RIP to John. He used an Ampex ATR tape machine to give a nice "fuzzy warmth" to the low end during mastering. Half inch tape. Completely different feeling compared to the digital file. Paul Simonon’s bass sounds like his bass on tape, but on digital, it doesn’t. Very interesting video.
This is cool. Old guy engineer I remember running analog tape at 15 ips by mistake and discovering the low end punch. It was great with Dolby SR. No tape hiss and a bottom end that sounded awesome.
I have the studer that I use on my melodic elements, can’t decide if the ampex is really worth buying even though it’s on sale. Might just hope it comes to the uad spark bundle
People complain, but personally I believe plugs for tape ems are fantastic modern age production tech. Tape is such a flattering sound, but the real thing is very much a impractical thing to chase, own & acquire unless you are recording in pro audio circles. I make electronic music & have so since 89, & still also use & own a healthy collection of hardware & outboard gear. So I've got the experience & ear to spot out what is trash or treasure to the ear with tech both in or out of the box... Even for electronic music, imo?... The most used, & practical choices of plugs for owning, have been KiiveTape Face, UA Oxide Tape & Studer Tape too. So ampex going native is now added to my plugs & I'm checking videos on it now, before I actually try it out myself... I do trust & like the UA tape ems I've been putting into much use already. I'm just very thankful that very authentic tape vibe is now really possible, without any of the fuss of owning the real reel to reel to get it. Highly recommend the use of Looptrotter Sa2rate with your Tape em of choice too... Usually chained after tape em, & parallel mix in some Sa2rate at around 33% wet processing amount. With tape it's a winning combo
We had 2” and 1/4” up until 2015… and even at that point, it was economically impractical for most projects. A good 1/4” deck for layback isn’t too much hassle, especially if you’re already working in the analogue domain. That said, I think modern tech is amazing!
It would be interesting to hear the original and a phase-inverted plugin version simultaneously. 🎵🌶️ Anyway: Mastering a track with the Studer A800 (SMPEX ATR 102) requires specific steps and settings to achieve the best sound. Here’s a general guide: Preparation: Ensure your mix is finished and all levels are optimized. Export the final mix in high resolution (e.g., 24-bit WAV). Machine Settings: Tape Speed: Choose the tape speed. 15 ips (Inches per Second) is often preferred for pop tracks, providing a good balance between frequency response and noise. EQ: Use the equalizer settings to shape the sound. You may want to add highs for clarity or reduce lows to tighten the bass. Bias: Set the bias correctly to minimize distortion and achieve the best frequency response. Tape Type: Choose the right tape material. SM900 or SM911 are commonly used for professional mastering. Signal Flow: Input Level: Set the input level so it’s not clipping but close to saturation for that typical tape sound. Output Level: Adjust the output level to ensure the final mix isn’t clipping. Mastering Process: Compression: Use light compression to control the dynamic range and give the track more presence. EQ: Fine-tune the EQ settings to balance the mix. Saturation: Use tape saturation to add warmth and fullness to the track. Monitoring: Listen to the track on various speakers and headphones to ensure it sounds good everywhere. Final Steps: Recording Back to DAW: Play the mastered signal back into your DAW and record it in the same resolution as your mix export. Final Listening: Listen to the track again on different speakers to ensure consistent and balanced sound. Export: Export the final master in the desired resolution, ready for distribution. These steps provide a general guide, but achieving the best result ultimately depends on your ears and preferences. Experiment with the settings to get the desired sound.
Growing up in LA and working in many of the LA basin studios, I dont know if I would say Ampex was the most popular tape machine used, there were a LOT of MCI decks around as well but, its great to see some other great options coming from UA.
@@raymota4515 Oh man it's crazy, not only that but I have watched countless plugins vs outboard gear. You can't really tell the difference, in fact a lot of producers that produce for big names, mix and master in the box anymore. What a time we live in .
As a guy that spent the first 35 years recording with Ampex, Scully and MCI recorders and too much equipment with tubes I gladly welcome the sound of realistic digital music but now that I've been completely away from it for 20 years I'm starting to enjoy the sound of it again. Kind of compresses, distorts and adds noise to music in a pleasing way. I guess I like it both ways now.
I've waited UAD to make native version of Ampex. Just bought it after watching your review and demoed it for a day. Awesome plugin, it suddenly give more "glue" to the overall mix.
Some time back I got their Studer A800 plugin and while I haven't used it much so far I did have a play with it and I think it could be quite useful. Some of the presets are pretty cool. I like the fact that I can put it on any tracks I want and have different settings for each track it's on. I doubt many would be willing to do the maintenance required by the real machine even if they could afford to buy it.
I have to say this about UA... I went through a phase of testing the aliasing of a lot of my plugins and I discovered that UA plugins were virtually free of it. So these days I don't bother with testing the aliasing on their plugins because I have reached that level of trust. I also think that their attention to anti-aliasing was built into the DNA of their plugins from the beginning, as far as I can see. I wonder if this wasn't one of the reasons their plugins a) were resource heavy, and b) sounded so good right from the early days. Kudos to UA for addressing this issue when so many other manufacturers had to be dragged along kicking and screaming years later, and even now many try to dance around the issue.
Thanks so much for the detailed demo about this plugin and about tape in general -- and thanks especially for creating the foldback aliasing performance chart, since full-spectrum saturators like tape emulators can create alien-invasion-level aliasing storms! I love tape emulations (I use them all over the place) and At Last UAD converted the 102 -- I've waited for this particular plugin to go native ever since UAD started going native -- it's party time!🥳🎉 I think I'll go randomly mix something now, ha ha! Happy mixing!
@@timbeneton8068 the akg spring reverb with uad is fantastic! I wish I could find a good native replacement for it, but I just can’t. Some IRs come close and stuff in guitar amp sims, but it’s not nearly as lush and full sounding as the usd one. There are a couple of others too, but less crucial to my workflow as these two. Oh also I want to point out that the native version of the ampex has a lot less features than the dsp version. In the dsp you can modify like every parameter in regards to calibration. In the native it’s more general controls. I don’t really touch that stuff. Though, but I’m sure power users will.
For that you need the verve analog machines (not the essentials version!) set to glow, drive .5 higher than default so 36 and tone at +2dB. This basically hides any form of inability! Thank me later ❤
Oh were we supposed to give real answers? I didn't know. Lol. Ok, I'll try. I think vocal chops and taking a rather boring vocal and simply rearranging the sentence structure to put the preposition in the front can sometimes make it more interesting. Just be careful not to make it sound too much like Yoda. But used right you can up the interesting factor to something otherwise generic.
@@kaislate how was my answer a real answer? 😂 Now that you went there let me give it a shot too Assuming you (the op) are a singer+musician i would say practice your instrument away from your daw. After which you’ll want to come up with parts for a song and get used to them to record them (everybody’s workflow for this is different). Step 1) Focus on smaller parts of playing/ singing and try to link multiple things after getting a grasp of individual concepts. For example for vocals practice long notes (sustain), short notes (creating more of a sentence), staccato (choppy notes), legato (different pitches sung attached to one another), tone, experimenting using different rhythm and melodic patterns (assuming you know how to play/sing in a key/scale, if not focus on simple vocal exercises it will help build your ear skills and link your execution aka singing to it and for instruments practice scales and try to visualise first just chunks so you can apply the techniques mentioned before and slowly expand from there) then link some concepts like playing with your tone in a sentence that varies with note length, for example: a couple of short notes like a mix of 8th and 4th notes (rhythmic interval) and then a long note. Experimenting with how you intonate some words, how soft or hard you sing some and how harsh or soft/smooth you sing some. Step 2) Record your hit single and take over the world.
UAD has made partially a good job here but.... they continue to not think till the end on this. Needed are these: A gain match knob! A lowcut filter to leave the lows untouched. A mix knob to adjust wet and dry. and visual feedback with numbers in the eq adjustments. Its ok ok to faithfully recreate old good stuff... i'm with you. But in todays times we should make things better and more usefull. Right now i have to do a lot of tweakin.. parallel processing to get what i want from the Ampex ATR 102. Further the UAD App does have many problems.. doesnt open properly, crashes, does not recognize licenses, with lot of restarts needed. UAD should remove once for all this tedious Ilok system and provide licenses like any other modern manufacturer😊😊
I'd so badly hoped this'd be native before too long, and then there it was! Just grabbed that (through the PB affiliate link of course) - can't wait to give it a play! Thanks for the overview White Sea!
Been waiting on this! Was debating on getting their hardware to just specifically use the ampex tape plugin! I kept refreshing their page day by day to see if they brought it native, saw your video and was super stoked! Love!
I use it on my master bus and it makes pretty much everything sound amazing. Now that it’s native, don’t have to use my DSP on my Apollo which will be helpful for sure.
lol 5:44 these drums sound so warm and saturated, I’m totally sold… “Oh, I’m thru” Proceeds to activate the plugin. Sounds identical to the original signal. Whatever you’re using to get the drums to sound like that is fantastic! Well done. Very processed and saturated. But it ain’t this thing apparently.
I've tried nearly every tape plug-in, this is probably the best along with IK Multimedia. I own an OTARI MX5050 2-track and Ampex 350 mono that I use as "PLUG-INS".
I used these before I got a tape machine. Now I just use the tape machine. Plug-ins are cool but real tape is magic. There is a noticeable difference. Records come alive.
Just started my Spark annual subscription! UAD's plugins are high quality and they are doing well at adding new plugins and new native plugins to the subscription so far. Hoping for the 33609 & Voice of God next! Keep it up Universal Audio!
Agreed 💯 UA has some great plugins but i would love to find an original vintage ampex reel to reel tape deck that the plug in is based on! Its easy to mouse click through life but when you can physically cut tape and get it perfect, That's when you're a GREAT RECORDING ENGINEER!
Such a great plugin! I love that UAD seems to be holding nothing back and going full Native. I had a firewire satellite that is outdated so this is great news :)
I’m so happy this is now Native. It’s the only UAD plugin I own that I still run on DSP. I prefer not being tied to the UAD interface. I only use it while mastering and haven’t found a satisfactory replacement. Will be installing this tomorrow.
This is a great plug in….i also have to give you a heads up on the Elysia master plug in….it does things in just the right way on the mix bus and master chain….it has soft clipping and it added 4 extra DB’s to every master I’ve redone with it.
I literally use the ATR-102 on 99% of my mixes. Some UI elements are in different locations int he SHARC-based version, but this is definitely one my go-to plugins.
I like and use digital music products, but man, I absolutely hate the way these companies always market and refer to their software products as if they are real hardware gear. “Mix and master your music with the most popular 2-track tape machine ever made” … “It’s not a record until it’s mastered on an Ampex tape machine” … OMG just Stop that BS. People will still buy it if you call it what it IS.
I believe a string of videos on your re-biasing of your tape machine would be wonderful for your community 🤷🏻♂️ I would watch and am very interested in how some of the calibrations translate from the UAD ampex and your personal machine.
always in my master buss!!!!! For me the best tape emulation. Just the next one with this Ampex is to try open de back an play with bias, and so many other parameters to play with
I tried to use the UA tape emulations on a lot of mixes/masters. Most of the time my masters sounds better without it. I think in 2024 are better ways to saturate tracks than with tape machine emulations. The Black Box Analog Design or a few other plugins sounds better in my opinion. And a lot of them are more flexible too.
I can never really hear tape plugins to my ears. And have to really focus on what’s it doing. I have so many tape plugins. And they are all subtle to my ears.
This was odd, unless they are advertising it today, but last night I was checking for updates of stuff and I bought the full version of Luna which allows you to use this tape machine as an extension. But then it said the plugin wasn’t downloaded. I was confused I don’t remember them advertising this as coming to native. Either way I’m glad to have a new plugin to check out in other DAWs now.
I just smell alcohol or cheap perfume (blasphemy!) cleaning my tape machine heads! Feel younger too 😅 My every track goes thru UAD Oxide Tape as a must. Magic delivered with all controls at default and zeros.
Only thing that upsets me is that they’ve changed the original controls. Now, the tape delay and wow and flutter controls are missing. Would’ve been a cool feature to have.
first thing i usually do is crank down the hiss and hum. I dont need the native version though, glad i can spare internal memory with the uad processors :)
My favourite Tape Plugin! How did you like the sound? And no bashing of the huge amount of window space being used to display virtual reels spinning? ;) All the best, Tobi
I think this one sounds a bit harsh and edgy on top. I much prefer the Studer. If I want a 2-trk tape machine on the mix buss, there are several options I find preferable. YMMV
I guess it is a testament to how bad I suck as a mixer (of my own music only), but I rarely hear any improvement from UAD Oxide or Studer emulations. Interestingly, my first pro recorder was a kickass Otari Mk3-8.
Ampex has been the tape King!!Until tape died.Many great memories in CO springs.Don’t forget there amazing Video tape machines.Spend many ours in the labs,in CA and CO.
To my ears, there is a more noticeable difference between the ATR-102 Apollo version and the native version compared to other versions they've converted to native plugins. The Apollo version sounds a bit more open and cleaner. The native sounds more dirty by default. You can tweak with the EQ settings but they don't sound as close as the other versions they've provided native versions for.
Important question: how many tape emulators do I actually need? I already have the UA Studer A800 plugin, as well as PSP's Vintage Warmer, Nomad Factory's Magnetic II, and the Kramer Master Tape by Waves.
I do find UAD to be the closest for tape... well, they at least make something that is worth using that emulates tape, so many out there where it's kind of messing things up as much as it's helping. I have to respect them as now their DAW is free and you do not need a interface. Making it very easy for very low budget people to get into it or others to be able to have a bit more money for the other things. I have to respect that after they had been a eco system you have to buy into completely before this.
Don’t think I’ve ever commented on any of your videos, but just wanted to say I’ve watched hours and hours of your channel! Keep up the great work, and thanks!
Yeah, best channel on UA-cam for effects plugin demonstrations. Informative as ever this one and a perfect mix of talk and audio examples.
In America, around NYC anyway, we had these brands (in order of ubiquity) MCI, Studer, Otari, Ampex, Scully and 3M. When I started working in studios "having a 1/2" machine" was a big deal! One time I was working at Ocean Way, in Los Angeles. On a Sunday, Allen Sides (owner of Ocean Way), myself and about 10 other audio engineers did an "A/B comparison" of the Sony 3348 and Studer D827 DASH machines. Allen used some stereo mixes that he'd done personally. At this time, mid-90's, each room at Ocean Way had one or two Ampex ATR 124/116 analog multitrack recorders. These machines were the pinnacle of Ampex's analog recording technology! These machines weighed upwards of 900 lbs! And they cost $125,000 each in 1980's money. They were HUGE; I felt like a kid in front of these beasts. So, there were many Ampex 102's around for mix down. I just assumed that Allen's mixes (we're talking reel to reel here) would be 1/2". But actually, no. Allen mixed everything on 1/4" at 30ips, no noise reduction! He just preferred THAT sound. In fact, since the whole "half-inch/two-track" thing came about in the early 80's, a great many classic albums were actually mixed 1/4." True story.
I hate to bring this adage back, but I actually respect your story, but have to be sarcastic too: "Hey...great story, bro".
Great story, thanks for sharing
And Elvis greatest Sun hits were mono. They still rip rock and roll.
There were some Stephens machines here and there. Leon Russell had a pair of two inch 40 tracks, the Grateful Dead had a 24 track, I have that machine now. I have never seen a 1/4 inch Stephens, only a 4 track 1/2 inch with a set of 2 track heads for mastering, I don’t know if John ever made a set of quarter inch guides for the machine. One unique feature is that you could record and play at 60ips if you wanted to. The high end sounded pretty incredible, but a roll of tape would be done in eight minutes.
Vangelis used a Danish tape machine, a 24 track Lyrec in his Nemo Studios. He also used DBX noise reduction.
The bias current actually is an ultrasonic high frequency added to the audio signal in recording heads. It allows to overcome the magnetic hysteresis of tape oxide. Oversimplifying, there’s a sort of “dead zone” in the magnetization curve of the tape. There’s a certain range of magnetic field intensity which gets linearly transferred to tape but there’s also an idle zone below a minimum threshold value. The bias current, without getting into too much details, is a practical way to fix that dead zone of magnetization. Otherwise you would get a distorted sound, because part of the waveform wouldn’t be transferred to the tape oxide. It’s a bit like in power amplifiers in AB class, where the transistors are continuosly polarized with a low electric tension otherwise low part of signals waveform wouldn’t be amplified and creating the so called “crossover distortion”. Which, by the way, many guitarist appreciate for its peculiar sound…
Thank you, I was just going to dive in and add this correction... ;)
@@ryancrawford9894 yes, of course it’s class A… thank you for the correction 😃
Yep, we use to call it "self erasure" you would take an oscilloscope and send a sine wave through the machine and set the bias based on 2 criteria the amplitude and the sine wave formation. The ATR 102 was pretty stable compared to other mix down decks like Otari MX5050 or my favorite the MCI JH-110 which was our main 2-track machine for years. You basically tried to get the input and the output on the sine wave both in amplitude and form to match up then listen to a pink noise before and after to check for EQ curves. The Studer 827 was the only machine I have ever seen that didn't require you to do this daily since it had a digital recall system you set up for each speed and playback curve its crazy that Studer never made a 2 track mix down deck with the same recall features.
@@ryancrawford9894 Class AB has both tubes/valves conducting at the crossover; that's why it is called AB. The analogy with the hysteresis in magnetic tape is useful in that it compares the non linearity of the tube at cut off. AB amps are biased (even guitar amps) to have a quiescent current so both valves are conducting.
@@joesalyers My Sony APR5003 has digital recall ;)
goddamn every time I think I have all the plugins and gear I need this legend drops another video of my future purchases
I've been waiting for them to take this one native, literally hook it to my veins
How do you use it? Lo-fi or hi-fi because it can do both. I've used it for years, but as I'm getting better and more particular when mastering, I find it hard to find a neutral setting that just lifts the music without taking it drastically in one way or the other? Not much middle ground, or the middle ground is just light saturation.
@@RJ1J I feel you, I have had this plugin for years and can never get it to give the master a little pop.. it takes away my transients and just makes things softer, even harder to gain match it.. it annoys me
I used the Ampex ATR-102 on many productions over the past couple of years. Imho it's one of the best tape-emulations on the market.
Bruv, it IS the best. Try that on the mix buss, that’s the best tape ever
You sharing your practical knowledge of tape is what kept me watching. Great video!
*frantically refreshes UA Connect*
same!
😂😅
9AM PACIFIC TIME TODAY? I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!!!
@@EricOehler01 Good Lord. Malibu Stacy has a new hat boys. Go get it.
@@oinkooink yes but SHE HAS A NEW HAT I WANT IT I WANT IT I WANT IT
god finally, its been the one UAD plugin i use on every mix that wasnt native yet
the redeisgn looks amazing, and autogain it also didnt have before
IK Multimedia has one of the best tape emulations, true stereo IRs, especially the Studer A80 and the MCI/Sony 24.
but the cpu usage is crazy
@@marjinal0617 that's true but for Mastering duties cpu should not be a problem
Studer A80 has distortion and pre ringing in the left channel with bass heavy mixes (like hip hop). IK said that this distortion was intentional, it was based on the Studer 80 that they used for the plugin. So basically they modelled a broken device LOL
Other than that, the IK Tapes are the absolute best, but CPU usage is insane.
@@django3108 thanks for the info. I'll take a close listen to that. I found out that the IK tapes don't work in a mixing situation with multple tracks that are very time sensitive (like 2 kicks or kick and bass etc.) because the IK tapes introduce latency INSIDE the plugin. This is different to normal latency plugins introduce which will be compensated by the DAW. The latency these IK tapes introduce are probably because the tape itself HAS avery short latency in real life (tape head, play head etc.) which they probably have modelled as well. This makes those tapes only suitable for mixbus/mastering purposes for me.
Would you buy the Ampex tape if you already had the IK Studer A80 and MCI?
@@paulmisty8998 I owned the IKs before the UAD Tapes. I got the UAD Tapes yesterday. They're way lighter on cpu
Very cool. I watched MWTM with John Davis mastering some songs. RIP to John. He used an Ampex ATR tape machine to give a nice "fuzzy warmth" to the low end during mastering. Half inch tape. Completely different feeling compared to the digital file. Paul Simonon’s bass sounds like his bass on tape, but on digital, it doesn’t. Very interesting video.
i've been waiting for ages for this update. The new version is in every aspect better. I even had the impression it sounds better.
This is cool. Old guy engineer I remember running analog tape at 15 ips by mistake and discovering the low end punch. It was great with Dolby SR. No tape hiss and a bottom end that sounded awesome.
Have been waiting for it for so loooong. Now I just wait for the 33609 and I'll be ready to leave the UAD-2.
I run all my mixes thu the studer A800 it his hands down the best to me and turns all my audio into a warm thick sound.
I have the studer that I use on my melodic elements, can’t decide if the ampex is really worth buying even though it’s on sale. Might just hope it comes to the uad spark bundle
It's in spark now! @@darotm7628
Got this myself for $24 last nite. It's the last plug-in of UAD's native collection that I didn't have. Sounds cool. Thank you.
How 24$?
How 24$??
People complain, but personally I believe plugs for tape ems are fantastic modern age production tech. Tape is such a flattering sound, but the real thing is very much a impractical thing to chase, own & acquire unless you are recording in pro audio circles. I make electronic music & have so since 89, & still also use & own a healthy collection of hardware & outboard gear. So I've got the experience & ear to spot out what is trash or treasure to the ear with tech both in or out of the box... Even for electronic music, imo?... The most used, & practical choices of plugs for owning, have been KiiveTape Face, UA Oxide Tape & Studer Tape too. So ampex going native is now added to my plugs & I'm checking videos on it now, before I actually try it out myself... I do trust & like the UA tape ems I've been putting into much use already. I'm just very thankful that very authentic tape vibe is now really possible, without any of the fuss of owning the real reel to reel to get it. Highly recommend the use of Looptrotter Sa2rate with your Tape em of choice too... Usually chained after tape em, & parallel mix in some Sa2rate at around 33% wet processing amount. With tape it's a winning combo
We had 2” and 1/4” up until 2015… and even at that point, it was economically impractical for most projects. A good 1/4” deck for layback isn’t too much hassle, especially if you’re already working in the analogue domain. That said, I think modern tech is amazing!
Universal Audio need to add these updated features to the UAD DSP version!
The UAD DSP version still has no auto-gain and no crisp new GUI.
I agree! I have two accelerators and a 4k screen, so I 100% am on the same page 👍
Totally. All of their plugins have a +10 year GUI, no resizable and so small
It would be interesting to hear the original and a phase-inverted plugin version simultaneously.
🎵🌶️
Anyway:
Mastering a track with the Studer A800 (SMPEX ATR 102) requires specific steps and settings to achieve the best sound. Here’s a general guide:
Preparation:
Ensure your mix is finished and all levels are optimized.
Export the final mix in high resolution (e.g., 24-bit WAV).
Machine Settings:
Tape Speed: Choose the tape speed. 15 ips (Inches per Second) is often preferred for pop tracks, providing a good balance between frequency response and noise.
EQ: Use the equalizer settings to shape the sound. You may want to add highs for clarity or reduce lows to tighten the bass.
Bias: Set the bias correctly to minimize distortion and achieve the best frequency response.
Tape Type: Choose the right tape material. SM900 or SM911 are commonly used for professional mastering.
Signal Flow:
Input Level: Set the input level so it’s not clipping but close to saturation for that typical tape sound.
Output Level: Adjust the output level to ensure the final mix isn’t clipping.
Mastering Process:
Compression: Use light compression to control the dynamic range and give the track more presence.
EQ: Fine-tune the EQ settings to balance the mix.
Saturation: Use tape saturation to add warmth and fullness to the track.
Monitoring: Listen to the track on various speakers and headphones to ensure it sounds good everywhere.
Final Steps:
Recording Back to DAW: Play the mastered signal back into your DAW and record it in the same resolution as your mix export.
Final Listening: Listen to the track again on different speakers to ensure consistent and balanced sound.
Export: Export the final master in the desired resolution, ready for distribution.
These steps provide a general guide, but achieving the best result ultimately depends on your ears and preferences. Experiment with the settings to get the desired sound.
Wow.. Great explained 👏👍
Thanks ChatGPT
Growing up in LA and working in many of the LA basin studios, I dont know if I would say Ampex was the most popular tape machine used, there were a LOT of MCI decks around as well but, its great to see some other great options coming from UA.
Hearing you talk about how recording to tape worked, makes me really freaking glad I can fire up a DAW and just start recording stuff.
And produce masters in your home studio that far surpass, spec wise, anything tape could ever do.
@@raymota4515 Oh man it's crazy, not only that but I have watched countless plugins vs outboard gear. You can't really tell the difference, in fact a lot of producers that produce for big names, mix and master in the box anymore. What a time we live in .
I preferred their Studer plugin, but I used both, back when I had UAD hardware.
I keep checking on UA website everyday waiting for this since SPARKS released. Great video, loved your show on the real tape machine
Use it with the UA Studer, its a great combination and the best digital versions of analogue out there!
Cranesong pheonix first
Please never stop doing these videos, I can't even estimate how many hours I've already spent watching your videos 🎛🎚🔊🥳
As a guy that spent the first 35 years recording with Ampex, Scully and MCI recorders and too much equipment with tubes I gladly welcome the sound of realistic digital music but now that I've been completely away from it for 20 years I'm starting to enjoy the sound of it again. Kind of compresses, distorts and adds noise to music in a pleasing way. I guess I like it both ways now.
Various Varients.. Wow.. Correct! Gotta Love an AMPEX. This machine was the king of 30ips half inch.
One of UAs best plugins, been using it for quite some time. Great to have it run natively now as well!
Man I’ve been waiting for this… instant purchase. It’s about time!!! Used this a few times in the past and couldn’t do without. Finally!
I've waited UAD to make native version of Ampex.
Just bought it after watching your review and demoed it for a day.
Awesome plugin, it suddenly give more "glue" to the overall mix.
Heb hem gekocht. Klinkt als een super goede tape plugin en heel erg afgeprijsd. Bedankt voor de tip
I have been using this plugin for years. And I also have actual tapes machines as well. I am old school and still enjoy recording to take.
Some time back I got their Studer A800 plugin and while I haven't used it much so far I did have a play with it and I think it could be quite useful. Some of the presets are pretty cool. I like the fact that I can put it on any tracks I want and have different settings for each track it's on. I doubt many would be willing to do the maintenance required by the real machine even if they could afford to buy it.
I have to say this about UA... I went through a phase of testing the aliasing of a lot of my plugins and I discovered that UA plugins were virtually free of it. So these days I don't bother with testing the aliasing on their plugins because I have reached that level of trust. I also think that their attention to anti-aliasing was built into the DNA of their plugins from the beginning, as far as I can see. I wonder if this wasn't one of the reasons their plugins a) were resource heavy, and b) sounded so good right from the early days. Kudos to UA for addressing this issue when so many other manufacturers had to be dragged along kicking and screaming years later, and even now many try to dance around the issue.
They definitely have plugs that alias more than other 3rd party versions. UADs plugins do handle brute force oversampling well.
@@fcmas Cool, happy to learn. Which UA plugins did you find aliasing on? Cheers
Thanks so much for the detailed demo about this plugin and about tape in general -- and thanks especially for creating the foldback aliasing performance chart, since full-spectrum saturators like tape emulators can create alien-invasion-level aliasing storms! I love tape emulations (I use them all over the place) and At Last UAD converted the 102 -- I've waited for this particular plugin to go native ever since UAD started going native -- it's party time!🥳🎉 I think I'll go randomly mix something now, ha ha! Happy mixing!
Hell yeah! My favorite tape plug-in! One of the few UAD plugins I couldn’t find a good native replacement for.
what are another one’s?
@@timbeneton8068 the akg spring reverb with uad is fantastic! I wish I could find a good native replacement for it, but I just can’t. Some IRs come close and stuff in guitar amp sims, but it’s not nearly as lush and full sounding as the usd one.
There are a couple of others too, but less crucial to my workflow as these two.
Oh also I want to point out that the native version of the ampex has a lot less features than the dsp version. In the dsp you can modify like every parameter in regards to calibration. In the native it’s more general controls. I don’t really touch that stuff. Though, but I’m sure power users will.
Really great review, but who need sounds like a tape today? Thank you.
Which virtual tape speed should I use to overcome my terrible performance and lack of songwriting ability?
All of them.
For that you need the verve analog machines (not the essentials version!) set to glow, drive .5 higher than default so 36 and tone at +2dB.
This basically hides any form of inability!
Thank me later ❤
Oh were we supposed to give real answers? I didn't know. Lol.
Ok, I'll try.
I think vocal chops and taking a rather boring vocal and simply rearranging the sentence structure to put the preposition in the front can sometimes make it more interesting. Just be careful not to make it sound too much like Yoda. But used right you can up the interesting factor to something otherwise generic.
@@kaislate how was my answer a real answer? 😂
Now that you went there let me give it a shot too
Assuming you (the op) are a singer+musician i would say practice your instrument away from your daw.
After which you’ll want to come up with parts for a song and get used to them to record them (everybody’s workflow for this is different).
Step 1) Focus on smaller parts of playing/ singing and try to link multiple things after getting a grasp of individual concepts. For example for vocals practice long notes (sustain), short notes (creating more of a sentence), staccato (choppy notes), legato (different pitches sung attached to one another), tone, experimenting using different rhythm and melodic patterns (assuming you know how to play/sing in a key/scale, if not focus on simple vocal exercises it will help build your ear skills and link your execution aka singing to it and for instruments practice scales and try to visualise first just chunks so you can apply the techniques mentioned before and slowly expand from there) then link some concepts like playing with your tone in a sentence that varies with note length, for example: a couple of short notes like a mix of 8th and 4th notes (rhythmic interval) and then a long note. Experimenting with how you intonate some words, how soft or hard you sing some and how harsh or soft/smooth you sing some.
Step 2) Record your hit single and take over the world.
stop asking on social media, and start practice your arts
UAD has made partially a good job here but.... they continue to not think till the end on this. Needed are these:
A gain match knob!
A lowcut filter to leave the lows untouched.
A mix knob to adjust wet and dry.
and visual feedback with numbers in the eq adjustments.
Its ok ok to faithfully recreate old good stuff... i'm with you. But in todays times we should make things better and more usefull. Right now i have to do a lot of tweakin.. parallel processing to get what i want from the Ampex ATR 102.
Further the UAD App does have many problems.. doesnt open properly, crashes, does not recognize licenses, with lot of restarts needed. UAD should remove once for all this tedious Ilok system and provide licenses like any other modern manufacturer😊😊
The problem is those licenses will be cracked. That's why they still use the old iLok method.
I'd so badly hoped this'd be native before too long, and then there it was! Just grabbed that (through the PB affiliate link of course) - can't wait to give it a play! Thanks for the overview White Sea!
Been waiting on this! Was debating on getting their hardware to just specifically use the ampex tape plugin! I kept refreshing their page day by day to see if they brought it native, saw your video and was super stoked! Love!
I use it on my master bus and it makes pretty much everything sound amazing. Now that it’s native, don’t have to use my DSP on my Apollo which will be helpful for sure.
lol 5:44 these drums sound so warm and saturated, I’m totally sold…
“Oh, I’m thru”
Proceeds to activate the plugin. Sounds identical to the original signal.
Whatever you’re using to get the drums to sound like that is fantastic! Well done. Very processed and saturated. But it ain’t this thing apparently.
Great!!! amazing addition to spark :D now I just want the thermionic and my life is complete.
I want the SSL bundle
The arturia thermionic emu is pretty good!
I've tried nearly every tape plug-in, this is probably the best along with IK Multimedia. I own an OTARI MX5050 2-track and Ampex 350 mono that I use as "PLUG-INS".
Been using this plugin for years. It’s great
I used these before I got a tape machine. Now I just use the tape machine. Plug-ins are cool but real tape is magic. There is a noticeable difference. Records come alive.
Do you have factual information to support your claim?
If you can't get a good mix with this, or without even tape emulation, you're a bad engineer
@@fcmas Who said anything about mixing? Weird comment.
Just started my Spark annual subscription! UAD's plugins are high quality and they are doing well at adding new plugins and new native plugins to the subscription so far. Hoping for the 33609 & Voice of God next! Keep it up Universal Audio!
Going to have to compare this to the Studer A800 Tape Recorder plugin. Thanks!
You dropped this news before UA did lol. Also, that song is great!
Thank you! my most important plug-in that I really didn’t understand as much as I do now after watching this :)
hey, the explanation about all the functions is really great....looking forward to the tape machine video! thx a lot - chris
Agreed 💯 UA has some great plugins but i would love to find an original vintage ampex reel to reel tape deck that the plug in is based on! Its easy to mouse click through life but when you can physically cut tape and get it perfect, That's when you're a GREAT RECORDING ENGINEER!
Such a great plugin! I love that UAD seems to be holding nothing back and going full Native. I had a firewire satellite that is outdated so this is great news :)
Thank you so much for the Explanation of the Sync-Button ! Was for me helpful to understand finaly this. 😃👍
Finally been waiting so long
Great sounding machine. Mostly using the UA non- native version because Acustica wants all of the power on my 7950X. Lol
Thanks for the video.
I’m so happy this is now Native. It’s the only UAD plugin I own that I still run on DSP. I prefer not being tied to the UAD interface.
I only use it while mastering and haven’t found a satisfactory replacement.
Will be installing this tomorrow.
did you try softube tape?
or acustica taupe
@@Hartweizengriesspudding thx, i will check it out!
What do you mean you don't prefer being tied to the UAD interface??
@@tri-unetrl3966 you were able to run this plugin on uad apollo dsps only, until now. nobody likes hardware dongles
Best tape plugin i ever heard ! Take my card !!!!
cracked me with that resigned "I'm dutch"
yes more video! I don't really understand how a tape machine works, thank you!
it just adds noise, if you're song is ass, this isn't gonna save it, let alone the mixing
Yes we want more! dont know anything else to say except, keep up the good work! Greetings
This is a great plug in….i also have to give you a heads up on the Elysia master plug in….it does things in just the right way on the mix bus and master chain….it has soft clipping and it added 4 extra DB’s to every master I’ve redone with it.
I literally use the ATR-102 on 99% of my mixes. Some UI elements are in different locations int he SHARC-based version, but this is definitely one my go-to plugins.
I like and use digital music products, but man, I absolutely hate the way these companies always market and refer to their software products as if they are real hardware gear. “Mix and master your music with the most popular 2-track tape machine ever made” … “It’s not a record until it’s mastered on an Ampex tape machine” … OMG just Stop that BS. People will still buy it if you call it what it IS.
Very interesting and captivating video ! Thanks a lot for your great work !!
I believe a string of videos on your re-biasing of your tape machine would be wonderful for your community 🤷🏻♂️ I would watch and am very interested in how some of the calibrations translate from the UAD ampex and your personal machine.
always in my master buss!!!!! For me the best tape emulation.
Just the next one with this Ampex is to try open de back an play with bias, and so many other parameters to play with
Before I watch this video I agree with the title 🤘💀🍻🔥
I tried to use the UA tape emulations on a lot of mixes/masters. Most of the time my masters sounds better without it. I think in 2024 are better ways to saturate tracks than with tape machine emulations. The Black Box Analog Design or a few other plugins sounds better in my opinion. And a lot of them are more flexible too.
'I'm Dutch' - is a totally fair excuse. I can barely grasp one language. Great viddy x
I can never really hear tape plugins to my ears. And have to really focus on what’s it doing. I have so many tape plugins. And they are all subtle to my ears.
I'm impressed. I used to use tape in the 80s
Great video. Can't wait for the Tape tutorial.
This was odd, unless they are advertising it today, but last night I was checking for updates of stuff and I bought the full version of Luna which allows you to use this tape machine as an extension. But then it said the plugin wasn’t downloaded. I was confused I don’t remember them advertising this as coming to native. Either way I’m glad to have a new plugin to check out in other DAWs now.
I just smell alcohol or cheap perfume (blasphemy!) cleaning my tape machine heads! Feel younger too 😅
My every track goes thru UAD Oxide Tape as a must. Magic delivered with all controls at default and zeros.
Only thing that upsets me is that they’ve changed the original controls. Now, the tape delay and wow and flutter controls are missing. Would’ve been a cool feature to have.
They aren't missing. He literally shows them in this video
@@fcmasnah man there’s no tape delay, and wow & flutter has been reduced to a button instead of something you can dial in.
Tnx for video 👍 I'd like to see reviews of other plugins UAD and preferably a comparison with other plugins)
Yeah me too, I have the UA Studer but I hate the ilock bs so don't use it as much as I want to.
This plugin was well worth the wait
first thing i usually do is crank down the hiss and hum. I dont need the native version though, glad i can spare internal memory with the uad processors :)
My favourite Tape Plugin! How did you like the sound? And no bashing of the huge amount of window space being used to display virtual reels spinning? ;) All the best, Tobi
That shirt is 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Indeed:)
my god this tape sounds awesome
I agree, running the recording through a 2 inch tape is essential for that polished master, but at £350 per tape reel???
Sounds like a bit reduction plugin sprinkled with eq witchcraft.
The tape types alter as you switch through the settings, it’s how to find the alt tape speeds and such
glad to see this one in native, finally!!!
I think this one sounds a bit harsh and edgy on top. I much prefer the Studer.
If I want a 2-trk tape machine on the mix buss, there are several options I find preferable. YMMV
I guess it is a testament to how bad I suck as a mixer (of my own music only), but I rarely hear any improvement from UAD Oxide or Studer emulations. Interestingly, my first pro recorder was a kickass Otari Mk3-8.
Ampex has been the tape King!!Until tape died.Many great memories in CO springs.Don’t forget there amazing Video tape machines.Spend many ours in the labs,in CA and CO.
This actually sounds like a tape machine!
To my ears, there is a more noticeable difference between the ATR-102 Apollo version and the native version compared to other versions they've converted to native plugins. The Apollo version sounds a bit more open and cleaner. The native sounds more dirty by default. You can tweak with the EQ settings but they don't sound as close as the other versions they've provided native versions for.
Totally agree with this review. It’s one of UAs best.
I'm Dutch...best part of the video
I had to sub. I love the content man.
I use this more than the studer 2500. To my ears the studer gets “mushy” fast but this remains punchy.
Important question: how many tape emulators do I actually need? I already have the UA Studer A800 plugin, as well as PSP's Vintage Warmer, Nomad Factory's Magnetic II, and the Kramer Master Tape by Waves.
When you ask 'em how much should I give, the only answer is more more more.
I do find UAD to be the closest for tape... well, they at least make something that is worth using that emulates tape, so many out there where it's kind of messing things up as much as it's helping.
I have to respect them as now their DAW is free and you do not need a interface.
Making it very easy for very low budget people to get into it or others to be able to have a bit more money for the other things.
I have to respect that after they had been a eco system you have to buy into completely before this.
do you need to clean and demagnetize the heads like on a real Tape Machine with this plugin?
Finally you don't criticize the realistic UI 🎉 😃